The invention relates to an arrangement having an endpiece for spectacles, a temple for the spectacles, and a hinge according to the preamble of claim 1.
Such an arrangement is known (DE 197 21 306 A1). The known arrangement and, thus, also the arrangement according to the invention are provided for manufacturing spectacles from two of these arrangements and a spectacle center part comprising at least two spectacle lenses and a bridge. If the spectacles concerned are rimless spectacles, the endpiece of one of the two arrangements is suitably fastened to the edge portion facing away from the bridge of each of the two spectacle lenses in the course of the manufacture of the spectacles. If the spectacles concerned are spectacles having a full-rim frame or a semi-rim frame, the endpieces of the two arrangements are, in the course of the manufacture of the spectacles, suitably fastened to the full-rim frame or the semi-rim frame or, as the case may be, integrally formed therewith.
The hinge of the arrangement makes it possible to pivot the temple relative to the endpiece between a position of non-use and a position of use. The position of use of the temple is the position in which the temple is pivoted out relative to the center part of the spectacles and, thus, relative to the endpiece to such an extent that it extends from the center part of the spectacles in parallel to the side of the spectacle wearer""s skull rearwards for contributing to holding the spectacles to the spectacle wearer""s head. In its position of non-use, the temple is pivoted inwards into a position in which it extends substantially in parallel to the center part of the spectacles.
The hinge of the known arrangement comprises a hinge pin formed on the end portion of the temple adjoining the endpiece or on the end portion of the endpiece adjoining the temple, as well as a hinge eye formed on the respectively other end portion. The hinge pin extends through the hinge eye, so that the temple is pivotable about the axis of the hinge pin relative to the endpiece. When the temple takes up its position of use, the free front surface on the end portion of the temple adjoining the endpiece and the abutment surface on the end portion of the endpiece adjoining the temple abut on each other, thereby preventing that the temple can be pivoted outwards beyond its position of use. This means in other words that the free front surface and the abutment surface jointly determine the so-called aperture angle.
In the known arrangement, the endpiece including the hinge eye or the hinge pin consists of an injection-moldable plastic material and is accordingly manufactured by injection molding of the injection-moldable plastic material. Furthermore, in the known arrangement, also the temple including the hinge pin or the hinge eye consists of an injection-moldable plastic material and is accordingly manufactured by injection molding of the injection-moldable plastic material. In this way, the manufacture is simplified in comparison to such arrangements where the hinge pin is manufactured as a separate part and the arrangement is mounted by joining the endpiece, the temple, and the hinge pin together. The known arrangement requires, however, that, first of all, two components, namely the endpiece including the hinge eye or the hinge pin and the temple including the hinge pin or the hinge eye are separately manufactured by injection molding and are then connected to each other.
A known arrangement is also one comprising an endpiece, a temple, and a hinge for spectacles with the endpiece, the temple, and the hinge being unitarily formed, i.e. formed in one piece. In this known arrangement, the endpiece, the temple, and the hinge substantially consist of a metal wire which is flattened in the area of the hinge such that this flattened wire portion forms a flexible leaf spring. The temple is pivoted against the spring force of said leaf spring in its position of non-use as well as in its position of use. This known arrangement does not include any elements defining the position of use of the temple, so that this known arrangement does not allow keeping the center part of the spectacles reliably in its target position on the spectacle wearer""s head.
The invention is based on the object of further developing the generic arrangement such that it can be manufactured in a simple way without its functional performance being adversely affected. In particular, it shall still be ensured that the position of use of the temple relative to the endpiece is reliably determined by the interaction of the free front surface and the abutment surface, so that the opened temple is kept in said determined position of use.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by the arrangement according to claim 1.
According to the device of the invention, it is provided that the hinge is formed by a flexible tape fastened with its one end to the end portion of the temple adjoining the endpiece and, with its other end, to the end portion of the endpiece adjoining the temple, that the temple, the endpiece, and the tape are formed as one unit, i.e. integrally or unitarily, that the tape extends from the inner side of the temple to the inner side of the endpiece, and that, when the temple takes up its position of use, there is a space between the tape and the area of the arrangement in which the free front surface of the temple and the abutment surface abut on each other.
The hinge of the arrangement according to the invention is formed by a flexible tape. xe2x80x9cTapexe2x80x9d here refers to a material strip the thickness of which is small in comparison to its width. The temple, the endpiece, and the hinge formed by the flexible tape are integrally formed, namely by injection molding of the injection-moldable plastic material. This unitary formation by injection molding means that the temple, the endpiece, and the hinge, i.e. the whole arrangement, can be manufactured as coherent component in one single injection molding process. This considerably simplifies the manufacture of the arrangement, since only one instead of several components needs to be manufactured for producing the arrangement, and since no mounting of several components to form the arrangement is necessary.
The tape of the arrangement according to the invention extends from the inner side of the temple to the inner side of the endpiece, wherein there is a space between the tape and the area of the arrangement in which the free front surface of the temple and the abutment surface abut on each other when the temple takes up its position of use. This relative positioning of the tape, on the one hand, and of the contact area between the front surface and the abutment surface, on the other hand, allows a pivoting of the temple from its position of non-use, in which the end portions of endpiece and temple are exclusively connected by the tape and are not in contact otherwise, in the direction of its position of use, wherein, during this pivoting step, the tape is bent, which is possible due to its flexibility. During this pivoting step, the free front surface on the end portion of the temple and the abutment surface on the endpiece finally get in contact with each other, so that a further pivoting movement of the temple is not possible whereby the temple reaches and takes up its position of use.
The space between the tape, on the one hand, and the contact area between the free front surface and the abutment surface, on the other hand, ensures that the tape may have, between its ends, a length sufficient for giving the tape the necessary flexibility without making it necessary to form the tape to be particularly thin for achieving the required flexibility.
Advantageous embodiments of the invention are characterized in the subclaims.